Biosecurity is about having plans and processes in place on your property to prevent unwanted pests and diseases causing you financial and emotional harm. Disease on your property can mean your farm product cannot be sold for a significant period of time, your stock may need veterinary treatment, production reduced or require euthanasia, and you will have a huge amount of stress and paperwork.
And biosecurity goes further than your farm. Good biosecurity practices are about protecting the New Zealand Farming industry by preventing the spread of pests and diseases between farms. Pests and disease on farms impact farm productivity, but similarly, they adversely impact our ability to export to overseas markets.
- Having good biosecurity practices improves farm resilience, which benefits staff over the long term by maintaining jobs and a good work environment.
- Quarantine has been around for 100s of years as a first line of defence, what this looks like is keeping new animals separate from your herd until you know they have no disease concerns, it also pays to ensure your herd can’t sniff noses with neighbouring herds.
- Tree breaks are useful for this, as well as creating a wind break which helps reduce spread of windborne disease. In an integrated plan, these tree breaks can also provide space for native biodiversity.
